Ubuntu 'more secure' than Windows, says Dell

Dell reckons Ubuntu offers more protection than Windows online as it convinces consumer PC shoppers they shouldn't be scared of Linux.

In a statement flagged here by TheVarGuy.com, Dell picked on security as one of ten reasons why people should buy PCs running Canonical's Linux rather than Microsoft's operating system.

According to Dell's site (here, and a PDF here (pdf) in case the page is moved):

Dell does not provide further details, but continues to state anti-virus and anti-spyware software is "unwarranted" for Ubuntu while such software comes at "extra cost" for Windows.

It's a new take on the classic argument that Linux, Mac or Windows is safer than one of the others, and one that's going to inflame and inspire fanbois on both sides.

Microsoft does actually offer free anti-virus software with Windows, with Windows Defender, along with its free Security Essentials service to protect against viruses and spyware.

Also, the operating system is not the only way into a system and its applications that leave users' vulnerable - even those on Linux. Adobe Systems Flash 10 contained a zero-day security flaw that affected Linux and Mac systems in addition to Windows and could let a hacker potentially take control of a users' PC.

The vendor, which has slipped to third place in global PC shipment rankings, buttressed its security argument by trying to neutralize potential concerns people might have on opening the box containing their new PC to find it doesn't run Windows.

"Linux has been around for nearly 20 years. The software itself is not only stable and reliable, but also pervasive. Linux is used on computers of all sizes ranging from the biggest to the smallest," Dell said.

Dell added it's been shipping Ubuntu since 2007 with every PC fully tested to "ensure the best possible Internet and multimedia experience Linux has to offer".

The push for Ubuntu comes as Dell's site indicated Ubuntu 10.04, released in April, will be appearing on Dell systems this summer. In a further push Dell said boot times have been improved dramatically over Ubuntu 9.10, currently on Inspiron 15n systems, to around 30 seconds.

Linux Mint is about as close to a Windows UI as you’ll find.

Agreed, it is IMO the best distro available to those who want an easy to install software, without a learning curve, and tons of software installed.

I like Ubuntu, but Mint is better and far easier for the average user to switch without a lot of problems.

However, the purpose was to wreak havoc and make a splash - not to make money.

You keep bringing up this irrelevant difference. The question: Is Mac big enough to target? Answer: Yes, smaller populations have been targeted. Whether it's for damage or money, they're both looking for effect. They take the time to develop malware for those products.

Maybe a worm or other malware could be designed to affect the Mac, maybe not - the truth is that in this environment, most cyber criminals are not going to make the effort because the potential return is so small.

Explain the malware for OS 9, and why it suddenly cut off for OS X and never grew to pre-OS X levels again despite a larger installed base. Yes, there is still damaging malware out there. There was no cutoff date where suddenly people stopped writing damaging malware. Even then, OS X was out long before your supposed cutoff. There were millions of OS X machines out there when someone was developing Witty to target only 12,000 machines.

Even for the money, I still don't see how a criminal could ignore 50 million lucrative targets when attacking them wouldn't cost any more. If they had effective Mac malware it would take no effort or money to target that rich environment.

But I'm sure one could be designed. No system is perfect.

If I were you, I'd be happy to be ignored by the crooks, not standing up shouting "why doesn't somebody attack me too?"

That is a dangerous thing to do. The basic fact people don't want to admit is that Jobs chose a very secure OS architecture, BSD. Allowing that little bit of credit to Apple would hurt too much for some.

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